Sea Slug did this !!

[pgsasi]

Hello people,
I have 2 slugs.. both different colors. I added the first one a month back and the second one a week back. it was yesterday in the morning they found each other and were sticking around in the same place for the whole day. this morning, i see what looks like a ribbon (attached pics) on the glass where both the slugs were sticking together. both slugs have left the place and are moving around separately. Can someone tell me what this could be ??

Cheers / Sashi

[Live Rock Ricky]

do they molt?

[LCP136]

Byproduct of mating maybe?

[pgsasi]

i googled 'sea slug eggs' and found similar pictures. but not sure if they are eggs. If they are, I would like to know if its good or bad.

[Ninong]

Sashi,

I can't see well enough to make out whether that's a loose egg ribbon or not. Does it look like it's made up of tiny eggs?

The behavior you observed is mating. They're hermaphroditic and they mate in, how shall I put this, the '69' position.

I assume you know what they are, right? I mean you are sure that they're sea slugs and not nudibranchs, right? All nudibranchs, as you may already know, are carnivores.

Assuming you have a couple of sea slugs, I would be interested to know what they are, assuming you do know. Because if they're different colors, they're probably different species and although it's possible for some species to cross-breed, it's not all that common.

So, what are they? And then, assuming you know what they are, what is their diet? And, since most of them have a maximum lifespan of one year, how long have you had them?



P.S. -- Sea slug eggs are harmless.

[pgsasi]

Hi Ninong,
These are what I have (I did not take these pics )..
It looks like what is there on the 3rd pic... (again, I googled the pics)

So, what are the difference between slug and nudibranch ? and what is that I have ? if these are carnivorous, will they eat my fish or corals or snails ? do I need to get rid of them ?

What have I got into ?? Please advise...

Cheers / Sashi

[weez1959]

Wow those are pretty, what do they eat?
That is an egg ribbon but most likely they won't survive. I have something similar that hitched a ride on the rock, I don't know if it's a nudibranch or a sea slug, he's a whole 1/4" long!

[Ninong]

Hi Ninong,
These are what I have (I did not take these pics )..
It looks like what is there on the 3rd pic... (again, I googled the pics)

So, what are the difference between slug and nudibranch ? and what is that I have ? if these are carnivorous, will they eat my fish or corals or snails ? do I need to get rid of them ?

What have I got into ?? Please advise...

Cheers / Sashi

Sashi,

All three pics are of nudibranchs. Chances are those nudibranchs eat certain sponges. If you don't have those particular sponges in your tank, they will die by gradually starving to death over a period of a few weeks.

NEVER buy stuff unless you know what you are buying and what they eat. And NEVER buy nudibranchs unless you're buying them to eat somethng you want to get rid of.

I have a headache right now, so you're going to have to do your own research. You can start right here on Reefland by running a search using "nudibranch" as the search word and "Ninong" as the poster. I have discussed these many, many times.

[Ninong]

Wow those are pretty, what do they eat?
That is an egg ribbon but most likely they won't survive. I have something similar that hitched a ride on the rock, I don't know if it's a nudibranch or a sea slug, he's a whole 1/4" long!

It's not a nudibranch. It's a sacoglossan sea slug. I'm not about to try to ID it. Follow the advice I just gave Sashi so that you can learn the difference between a nudibranch and a sacoglossan sea slug. Search under "nudibranch." Or maybe I'll post later this afternoon if I feel better.



P.S. -- Your slug is harmless but it will perish if it can't find the right stuff (meaning the right algae) to eat.

[pgsasi]

HI ,
what looked like a ribbon of eggs are gone. but I found something else in my aquarium. will post a picture. looked like a spiny star fish.. but moved very quickly...

Cheers / Sashi